291 Pro-Gov’t and ISIS Combatants Killed in Syria Since January: War Monitor

Approximately 291 Syrian soldiers and Islamic State fighters have been killed in clashes between the two sides since the beginning of the year, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Friday night. This includes 155 Syrian soldiers and combatants in pro-government forces, killed in 57 attacks and ambushes by ISIS in the desert regions of the country, as well as 136 ISIS fighters killed by Russian airstrikes in desert regions of the Homs, As-Suwayda, Hama, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Aleppo provinces. Though ISIS’s power has been significant;y eroded with the loss of key territories in Syria, remnants of the group remain in the country’s desert region and frequently attack Syrian military positions and vehicles.